Staff report
NEW ORLEANS (Jan. 3, 2013) — The Louisville Cardinals upset No. 4 Florida Wednesday night in the Sugar Bowl, as predicted by UofL safety Calvin Pryor, who said the Cardinals would “shock the world.”
The team, ranked No. 22, did just that, chomping the Gators 33-23. (Louisville had been the 15-point underdog, according to head coach Charlie Strong.)
It is Louisville’s second BCS bowl game win.
“I’m so proud of our football team, and I look at this performance tonight, and I sometimes wonder why didn’t we do this the whole season,” Strong said. “We said this at the beginning: We just take care of our job and do what we’re supposed to do, don’t worry about who we’re playing, it’s going to be a 60-minute game, win every play, and that’s what we had to do this season.”
Just after winning the game, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said he had no doubt in his mind that the Cardinals could take down Florida. (He was 20 of 32 passing for 266 yards and two touchdowns against the heavily favored Gators.)
Reporters asked Strong after the game if he would embrace a Heisman campaign for Bridgewater.
“Well, I’ve said it. And he is one of the best quarterbacks. He’s one of the best players in the country,” Strong said. “If you look out there on that field tonight, you look at what Florida has, you look at what we have, he’s the best probably. Not probably, he was the best player on the field.”
Strong thanked UofL’s fans for their support. Scads of Louisville Cardinals fans, clad in red, turned out for the game.
“Our fans, I know that city tonight, they probably won’t sleep tonight, they’re like us because they’re so happy,” he said. “They have supported this program from the day we took this job.”
Scoring Summary (Final)
2012 University of Louisville Football
#22 LOUISVILLE vs #3 Florida
LOUISVILLE (11-2,5-2) vs. Florida (11-2,7-1)
Date: Jan 2, 2013 Site: New Orleans, La. Stadium: MB Superdome
Attendance: 54,178
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
LOUISVILLE 14 10 6 3 33
Florida 0 10 0 13 23
Scoring Summary:
1st 14:45 LOU – Floyd, Terell 38 yd interception return (Wallace, John kick)
LOU 7 – UF 0
06:47 LOU – Wright, Jeremy 1 yd run (Wallace, John kick)
12 plays, 83 yards, TOP 6:24, LOU 14 – UF 0
2nd 14:50 UF – Sturgis, C 33 yd field goal
12 plays, 66 yards, TOP 6:51, LOU 14 – UF 3
08:39 LOU – Wallace, John 27 yd field goal
12 plays, 66 yards, TOP 6:11, LOU 17 – UF 3
02:57 LOU – Parker, DeVante 15 yd pass from BRIDGEWATER, T. (Wallace, John kick)
8 plays, 54 yards, TOP 3:55, LOU 24 – UF 3
00:10 UF – Jones,M. 1 yd run (Sturgis,C kick)
11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:40, LOU 24 – UF 10
3rd 14:52 LOU – COPELAND, D. 19 yd pass from BRIDGEWATER, T. (Wallace, John kick blockd)
1 play, 19 yards, TOP 0:07, LOU 30 – UF 10
4th 07:54 LOU – Wallace, John 30 yd field goal
11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:27, LOU 33 – UF 10
07:41 UF – Debose,A. 100 yd kickoff return (Sturgis,C kick)
LOU 33 – UF 17
02:13 UF – Taylor,K. 5 yd pass from Driskel,J. (Driskel,J. pass failed)
13 plays, 97 yards, TOP 3:46, LOU 33 – UF 23
Kickoff time: 7:31 p.m. End of Game: 11:01 p.m. Total elapsed time: 3:30
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